Looking Back and Forward

I want to thank Lee Hyat for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this blog. Now that the whirl of Christmas is past, it seems a good time to reflect on the past year and the year to come. As a writer, I have much to be thankful for this year. I've seen several new books on the shelves in 2008, including my brand new release, A Man To Rely On. (More about that in a bit.)

Obviously, this has been a year of ups and downs for everyone. My nature is not to dwell on the downs, but I think I also sometimes don't stop to savor the ups enough. So one thing I hope to do in the coming year is to Enjoy Every Blessing — both large and small. A beautiful day? I'm going to get up from my desk and enjoy it — even if I only have time to walk out onto the back deck for a few moments and take a deep a breath. I'm going to take those few moments. A yummy desert? Instead of gobbling it down, I want to savor it. A new sale? Time to break out the champagne!

As for those downs — when bad news or tough times or disappointments come my way, I'm going to focus really hard on all the things that are still going right — even if it's something as small as a good cup of tea to enjoy and a new book (or an old favorite title) that I'm looking forward to reading.

And speaking of books, I read a lot of great books in this past year, but my To Be Read pile still towers, so another goal I have for the new year is to Read More Books. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I plan to find a way!

On the writing front, I want to continue to Work on Improving My Craft. I'm going to read some new how-to books and review some of the ones I have. I also want to take some classes and workshop. I have over three dozen published books to my name, but I know I still have a lot to learn.

As for the books I've written, I promised to tell you a little about my current release, so here's a little blurb "Marisol Luna returns to her hometown of Cedar Switch, Texas in the aftermath of a sensational trial in which she was acquitted of murdering her basketball superstar husband. Her childhood friend, Scott Redmond, isrebuilding his reputation after a few missteps of his own. She was the woman he couldn't forget. He was the kind of man she'd always wanted. But is love worth all they will have to give up to be together?"

"Cindi Myers' A Man to Rely On (4) is a story about recovering from tragedy. Both Scott and Marisol are dealing with painful pasts, and Myers does a wonderful job depicting their emotions and fears." Romantic Times (4 stars)

You can read an excerpt of the book here.

A Man to Rely On collected about a dozen rejections as I submitted the story in various formats and guises over the years. It has, in turn, been written as women's fiction, romantic suspense, and finally, as romance. Finally, at Superromance, I knew I'd found the perfect venue of this story about two characters who simply would not leave me alone. Which brings me to my final goal for the new year. I Won't Give Up. Whatever dreams I'm pursuing in the coming months, I won't let a few setbacks or hard times keep me from going after them. I'll pick myself up, dust myself off and take another shot. A Man to Rely On proves that when the timing is right, everything comes together.

What goals or dreams do you plan to pursue in the coming year?

I'm Cindi Myers. You can visit me online here.

New Beginnings

New years always bring new beginnings. Of course they do, you say. It's new! And it's both exciting and just a little bit scary at the same time too. So, what new beginnings am I looking at so far this year.

1. The launch of the Diamonds Down Under continuity with Silhouette Desire. The first book in the continuity, VOWS & A VENGEFUL GROOM, by Bronwyn Jameson, is out now and sets the scene for our awesome series. For more information about the series, the books and the authors involved visit our website and bookmark our blog so you can be in to win some amazing prizes including diamonds, editor and agent critiques and more!

2. My new release in February, very appropriately titled, TYCOON'S VALENTINE VENDETTA! We had a wee hiccup with the back cover and inside copy where a name change for the hero didn't quite make it to production but hey, it doesn't affect the story, right? And ooh-la-la! Don't you just love this cover! I know I do and it's perfect for the characters and the story. And, in even more fun, if you visit Harlequin's Valentine's Day website you'll get to see the cover in a spot the differences game.

3. New authors for me to read. I'm sitting here typing this and looking at my TBR pile and smiling happily at the thought of tucking into these wonderful books. It's always fun to read new authors along with my old favourites. Since I'm between contracts right now I have plenty of time to read and I'm making the most of it!

So, as we head into a new year with new challenges and special moments to look forward to what is it that you're looking forward to the most right now?

Yvonne Lindsay is currently sweltering in the New Zealand summer heat and thinks lying around and reading a book is the perfect way not to raise a sweat! For more information about Yvonne, visit her website http://www.yvonnelindsay.com/ or check out her blog http://yvonnelindsay.wordpress.com/

Anne Gracie -- The dreaded R-word

Wow, when I signed up for this date, I didn't realize Lilian Darcy was going to be on before me. Thanks Lilian, and I so agree with you about the importance of friends.

In fact I think one of the best things about being a romance author has been the friends I've made -- and keep making. It came as a surprise, actually -- I expected to be working totally alone, and that I'd miss the friends I'd made at my other workplace. Nut no -- I do work by myself in something of a cave but I'm never really alone. There is always a friend on the end of the email or the phone. And that's a real blessing.

But that's not what I planned to blog about today. It being nearly the end of the year, I thought I ought to write something about that little piece of insanity we all go through around New Year -- I'm taking about the dreaded R-word -- resolutions.

I don't do resolutions. They invariably make me feel like a failure, as very few of these bright shiny new intentions last. So I'm not making a resolution -- but maybe I have a Plan. ;)

A few months back I was feeling really stale. I was suffering from post book slump, and though I had a big to-be-read pile of brand new shiny books, for some reason nothing appealed. I picked them over listlessly and they slid to the floor. So then I looked at my bulging bookcases and decided it was time for a clear out. (Clear outs for me are much like resolutions -- a guaranteed failure! I'm such a pack rat.)

So I started with my keeper book case ... Yes, another spectacular failure, if you use the number of books cleared out as a marker.

But oh, what a time I had!

It started with Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Nobody's Baby But Mine. What a mistake. ;) There went the next few hours. Blissfully.

I opened keeper after keeper, just to check whether they still hit the mark, and got lost in each one. It was the beginning of a massive reading binge -- a rereading binge, actually.

Over the next week I became a complete glutton, filling up on the stories that had first caused me to become a romance writer; I fell in love with again heroes like Dominic le Sabre, with the Marquis of Dain, with Simon Augustus Blade, the Earl of Traherne and with some really hunky navy seals. I got my socks knocked off by Johanna Lindsay's warriors, and by Wolf Mackenzie and his gorgeous son. I sobbed at the end of Eva Ibbotson's Morning Gift and LaVyrle Spencer's Morning Glory, and I traveled the south of France with my ancient copy of Madam Will You Talk. I chuckled through the dinner party scene in Strange Bedpersons, and the Nemesis and old Horley conversation from Friday's Child and I went on a complete Heyer glom, loving the fiery courtship of Deb and Max, Phoebe and Sylvester, and the incomparable Damerel.

I had the most wonderful time. And in the process I fell in love all over again with my chosen genre. What a gift these books are, to make you laugh and cry and feel so satisfied at the end. And how lucky I feel to be writing in such a gorgeous genre.

So if the New Year madness comes upon me, and I find myself making a resolution, it won't be one I'm likely to break; it's to reread my old keepers, as well as new books.

So what are some of your favorite keepers, or beloved comfort reads?

Anne

http://www.annegracie.com/